I 'm seeing more and more Thai BL series on Netflix. I like the universe where everybody is gay or bi, and the settings are sometimes interesting, but the multisyllabic names make research difficult. Try typing "Sailub Hemmawich Kwanamphaiphan" and "gay" into your search engine. And when you do, they never have nude photos available; I have to make do with random nude dudes. I think this one is Japanese, not Thai. But who can resist a show called This Love Doesn't have Long Beans?
I checked: Long beans, fak yao, are legumes, denser and less juicy than Western green beans, and they grow up to three feet long. No proverb that I could find.
Scene 1: Influencer Prawan is reviewing the No Long Beans Basil House. He only reviews restaurants that specialize in basil stir fry, pad krapao. This one is special because they don't include long beans, a traditional ingredient in the dish.
He praises the atmosphere, the plating, and the food, loudly, annoying the other customers, until Chef Oab, the "Hellfire Chef," asks him to leave. Then he hates everything, insults Chef Oab, and tries to fight him. Waiters hold him back.
"You think because you're a great chef, and incredibly handsome, that you can push people around! Well, I'll get even. I'll leave a bad review, and none of my 13 followers will come to your restaurant."
Scene 2: Shirtless musclemen posing for the camera. Influencer Prawan bursts in late, and then won't take off his shirt. "It's a commercial for a weight loss clinic. We asked for a model with a six pack." "Well..um...I can act." The director kicks him out.
Next he gets a text from the electric company: he has to pay his bill today, or they're cutting off his power. But he only has 99 baht (about $3.00) in his bank account. What can he do?
How about ask his agent for a loan? No way -- he got Prawan that modeling job, and he was kicked off the set for not being in shape. "You promised that you'd be in model shape by the beginning of the year!
Prawan begs for another chance. His influencer career isn't working out -- no one is paying him to review restaurants. Maybe if you expanded beyond pad krapao?
"Just get me one more job."
"No, you're hopeless."
Scene 3: Back home, Prawan is inundated by bills from creditors and disconnect notices. He goes to his friend JJ's house and announces that he's staying there.
"Only for one night. After that, you go home."
"But my power's been cut off. I can't go home."
"I've paid your electric bill."
"Oh...well, they've turned off the water, too..." Har-har.
Scene 3: Chef Oab reviewing a commercial for his restaurant. First, as one of the celebrity judges on Kitchen Fire Thailand (logo in English), he screams that the pork is undercooked, and tastes awful. Cut to praising how he selects the ingredients for the world's best pad krapao. Most important: no long beans. Shouldn't that be a matter of taste?
He's not going to use the commercial.
"But why? We can make any changes you want."
"Because I'm closing the restaurant. I've lost my passion."
"Is it because of your ex girlfriend?" Cut to him and his girlfriend hugging, gazing at each other, tasting food, and opening their restaurant, with "no long beans" because she is allergic to them.
"Yes, and also I need money. I'll sell to the first person who meets my offer."
More after the break
